Next generation of the BMW 5 Series shows off automated driving

With the debut of the next-generation G30 BMW 5 Series on the way, the BMW hype-train is at full speed. If Doc Brown and Marty McFly …

With the debut of the next-generation G30 BMW 5 Series on the way, the BMW hype-train is at full speed. If Doc Brown and Marty McFly were aboard, they’d have no issue hitting 88 mph (if you don’t understand that reference, I’m not sure we can be friends). The Bavarians have stoked the fires recently with this new video, demonstrating the new 5 Series’ Driving Assistance Systems.

We all know that the Ultimate Driving Machine is slowly but surely becoming the Autonomous Driving Machine, if you’ve read any forums lately. Everyone is complaining about how BMWs do too much driving for you. This video isn’t going to give those people any piece of mind, as it further demonstrates the automatic driving aids of the upcoming 5er. But the good news is we get a good look at some of the interior bits of the next-gen 5 Series.

But on to the video.

First, we get a good glimpse of the new 5 Series’ M Sport steering wheel, which is the same one from the 7 Series M Sport. I’m personally a fan of it, and feel as if it’s a good continuation of the current M Sport wheel, so I’m glad it’s making its way to other cars. We then learn that the new 5er will have the same steering and lane control assistance as the 7 Series, so it will allow for some hands-off driving, if not fully autonomous driving. It’s designed to add some assistance and comfort for driver’s on the highway. Say you have a long journey, this system will allow you to keep one hand on the wheel and it will sort of help you steer through easy bends, making the trip more lax. You can remove your hands completely for a few seconds and it will steer for you, but will then warn you to place your hands back on the wheel. In this demonstration, we also get a glimpse of the new head-up display, which seems to have trickled down from the 7 Series, as well .

Next is the Crossroads Warning demonstration. As the driver is driving down this two-lane road, an F10-generation BMW 5 Series pulls out from a side street, without using their blinker of course (it’s a BMW driver), and the G30 5 Series manages to detect the oncoming car and brake on its own. But the real important part is that when the G30 comes to a halt, we see a tiny little “M” emblem on the front fender, along with a blacked out Air Breather, black wheels and blue M-badged brake calipers. This could mean we’re looking at a BMW M550i, possibly packing a Track Handling package, and it looks pretty cool right there.

While the driver assistance demonstrations are pretty uneventful, as we’ve seen this stuff already and knew they were coming to the new 5 Series, the video does give us a few glimpses of the new car. The aforementioned M Sport steering wheel, new HUD and M550i giveaways are all pretty exciting. It’s also interesting to note that BMW blurred out the door panels and the dash on interior shots, so we can’t get a good look at them. The car itself is also blurred out on exterior shots. So BMW is trying to keep things pretty tidy, but did allow us to see the steering wheel and M badge.

All I know is that if those wheels and that steering wheel come with an M Sport package, that’s the box I will be ticking in my imaginary 5 Series purchase.